St Thomas' Church Information

The first Catholic Parish of North Shore was established in 1856; 34 parishes have since been established in the original parish. In 1894 land (lots 38 and 39) was acquired in Market Street, Central Township (now Naremburn) (in what had been a disused shop come post office). A church/school was opened that year. Jesuit priests from North Sydney supplied Mass; Sisters of St Joseph, Mount St taught at the school. Mother Mary of the Cross MacKillop, canonised in 2010, visited the school in 1898 and 1902. A second school was opened about this time at the corner of Chandos and Mitchell Sts, St Leonards, under the patronage of St Columcille. Also known as St Ignatius School it was staffed by the Sisters of Mercy. Cardinal Moran blessed the foundation of a new school on 21 February 1904. The foundation stone for the present St Leonard's Church was laid on 9 April 1913 and blessed by Monsignor Eris O'Brien (later Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn) in December 1913. In 1916 a parish of Naremburn was established under the patronage of St Leonard of Port Maurice, (an 18th century Italian Fanciscan, noted for his mission preaching). It had previously been part of the Chatswood Parish. The first Parish Priest of Naremburn, Fr Barry ws responsible for the first stage of the church building with an original plan that included twin towers with a 118 foot spire, and a chapel for the Josephite Sistes and their boarders. The church had a temporary wooden end facing Willoughby Rd and was illuminated by gas lights. A presbytery in Donnelly Rd was blessed and opened in October 1919. The Market St School (St Johns) closed in 1931 due to population growth and reopened on its present site in 1932. The foundation stone for a neighbouring Josephite Convent was blessed on 22 September 1935. In 1954 a church extension was inititiated by the parish priest Monsignor Rohan, this extension and the 145 foot bell tower were completed by Fr Holland (Parish Priest 1955 - 75). The parishes of St Leonard's Naremburn and St Philip Neri Northbridge were combined. These were later amalgamated with St Thomas' Willoughby in 2009 to form the Catholic Parish of Lower North Shore. To mark the centenary of the church building in 2013, a peal of bells from the Catholic Church of Our Lady and St James, Bangor, Wales, were installed. They were blessed by former Naremburn parishioner, Peter Ingham, Bishop of Wollongong in the presence of her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of NSW; Mayor of Willoughby, Pat Reilly, distinguished guests and an enthusiastic congregation.